My wife received a red light ticket recently. It's her name on the ticket but not her info. Different drivers license number, birthdate, height things like that. Is this ticket still valid and she should appear in court. Thanks for your input.

I'm not a LEO, but the same thing happened to me in Colorado 10 years ago. Called DMV, they said I had a "computer clone" - a person with the same name. They just sent the ticket to the wrong person. Their middle name was different. I was able to fix it over the phone. Of course, this was not the California DMV. Good luck.

Picture and License plate play clearer roles. Can you tell that she is the driver in the picture? If it came in the mail in her name, she needs to show up to contest it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMC169

My wife received a red light ticket recently. It's her name on the ticket but not her info. Different drivers license number, birthdate, height things like that. Is this ticket still valid and she should appear in court. Thanks for your input.

My wife received a red light ticket recently. It's her name on the ticket but not her info. Different drivers license number, birthdate, height things like that. Is this ticket still valid and she should appear in court. Thanks for your input.

Before you make a decision, let me give you a little information on the process.

When a red light camera takes a photo and video of the violation, the speed, GPS coords, and images are uploaded to a server and reference number is automatically generated. Employees at the company who maintain the equipment view images and data and makes a preliminary determination of whether or not a violation occurred. If they feel a violation occurred, they approve it to be reviewed by law enforcement later.

The police agency at the local jurisdiction usually has a traffic investigator or a civilian position which views these alleged violations on a computer. They watch the video and view photos of the violation. If they feel a violation occurred, they manually run the license plate number to obtain the registered owner's information. Using this information, they access DMV databases to get driver's license information and they also view the DMV photo and attempt to compare it to the photo of the driver from the red light camera.

If everything matches up, a citation is prepared using a computer, printed out, then mailed. The information on the cite is manually typed in on the computer by the traffic officer or civilian employee.

It is possible that the officer/civilian got a couple of of the cases mixed up when they were typing out the cite.

Be cautious with this....here is why. They might have your wife's correct information in the database which is accessed by the courts but made the error on the prepared cite only. If that is the case and your wife fails to take care of this, they might issue a warrant for her arrest or suspend her driver's license and charge her with failure to appear in court. This would really complicate things for her and you and it will cost you a LOT more in the long run.

On the other hand, if she notifies the police agency issuing the cite, they might correct it and she may still end up with the cite. If she claims it was someone else driving the car at the time, remember, they have a photo of her face form the camera. Also, they will try to make her give up who the driver was, which she is not legally obligated to do.

She could fight the cite in court and possibly win on a technicality (wrong info on cite). If the officer who issued the cite shows up, he/she will bring all the evidence from the red light camera and could request to amend the cite in front of the judge. If the judge grants and amendment, your wife would have to answer to the violation.

As much as it sucks, I don't know if I would want to ignore this. It is a hard decision.

P.S. There should be information included with the cite so she can go online and view the photos and video of the violation.

__________________"If you expect logic associated with California law, it will only make your head hurt.." - Ron-Solo, 2013

Last edited by Armed24-7; 10-18-2012 at 11:02 AM..
Reason: adding a P.S.

That is a good call man. I know others suggested to ignore the cite but it isn't worth the risk. If she is willing to take care of it, she should contact the police agency who issued the cite and explain it to them. She won't want her mother's getting a point on her license. Who knows.....perhaps the police agency will be willing to just drop it all together.

__________________"If you expect logic associated with California law, it will only make your head hurt.." - Ron-Solo, 2013

You have two choices, one ignore and wait to see what develops and deal with then; or two request dismissal on the grounds that the original complaint is flawed on it's face, it will be dismissed. You are under no obligation to provide any info other than it is a flawed complaint.

To anyone else inclined to advise the OP's wife to ignore the ticket, please don't as your post will also be deleted. This is the LEO forum, not OT, so those type of posts are not acceptable in this forum.

Just curious, do you have confidentiality on your plate? If so, how’d they find you? Did they forward the cite to your agency?

I missed the limit line once, saw the camera flash but never got a cite; I just assumed it was because I had confidentiality and they didn't follow up on it.

I had no confidentiality on that vehicle at the time. I had just purchased it a couple of months prior. It was a used car with only 5k miles on it. It takes months for the confidentiality to kick in after the paperwork is submitted. Gotta love DMV. It was Garden Grove PD who sent me the ticket ;-)

__________________"If you expect logic associated with California law, it will only make your head hurt.." - Ron-Solo, 2013

Be cautious with this....here is why. They might have your wife's correct information in the database which is accessed by the courts but made the error on the prepared cite only. If that is the case and your wife fails to take care of this, they might issue a warrant for her arrest or suspend her driver's license and charge her with failure to appear in court. This would really complicate things for her and you and it will cost you a LOT more in the long run.

Not to change the topic, but, if you haven't signed a promise to appear on a ticket, can a warrant still be issued? I generally thought the warrant would stem from the "failure to appear", as promised. Since nothing was even signed, could a warrant still be issued?

I bet it was Santa Ana, I got one at Warner & Harbor...rolling through the red light...making a right at 5mph. $500.

If that's not oppressive, I don't know what is.

Well to be fair, the vehicle code does say you must come to a complete stop. When I got my red light camera ticket, I rolled through at 5 mph also.....and the light had been red for only .35 of a second. Did that feel ****ty? Yes.

It isn't oppressive. "The Man" is not trying to keep you down. :-P

It is aggressive enforcement.

__________________"If you expect logic associated with California law, it will only make your head hurt.." - Ron-Solo, 2013

I bet it was Santa Ana, I got one at Warner & Harbor...rolling through the red light...making a right at 5mph. $500.

If that's not oppressive, I don't know what is.

Reminds me of the old joke.

A cop stops someone for running a red light. The driver keeps insisting that he should be let go because he "slowed down" rather than stopping as required. The officer tried to explain the difference and the dangers of not stopping, but the driver kept saying that he "slowed down" so everything was ok. Eventually, the officer pulls out his baton and starts hitting the driver with it. He then asks, "OK, do you want me to slow down or stop?"

I'd have to disagree on that one. According to Websters, The definition of Oppressive includes "unreasonably burdensome or severe"

I'd bet half the people in Santa Ana are lucky to bring home $500 in a week. When you're fined $500 for rolling through a red light with a clear view of no oncoming traffic for hundreds of yards........that can make the difference of being able to pay the rent and feed the kids. I'd say that's oppressive. Should a ticket be issued? No question. But the old adage, "The punishment should fit the crime" comes to mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armed24-7

Well to be fair, the vehicle code does say you must come to a complete stop. When I got my red light camera ticket, I rolled through at 5 mph also.....and the light had been red for only .35 of a second. Did that feel ****ty? Yes.

I'd have to disagree on that one. According to Websters, The definition of Oppressive includes "unreasonably burdensome or severe"

I'd bet half the people in Santa Ana are lucky to bring home $500 in a week. When you're fined $500 for rolling through a red light with a clear view of no oncoming traffic for hundreds of yards........that can make the difference of being able to pay the rent and feed the kids. I'd say that's oppressive. Should a ticket be issued? No question. But the old adage, "The punishment should fit the crime" comes to mind.

Stop, and that won't be a problem. If you can see for 500 yards, you should have seen the sign/light. Whining is reserved for off topic.